next steps

Saturday, 30 July 2011

e-portfolio research

Now starting to find my way through the blogs, twitter feeds, studies and research to establish a suitable framework for evaluating our e-portfolios. Our implementation is due to start in October with a small pilot group. Lots of useful information from JISC and Becta. We will be emphasising the employability skills enhancement that we can deliver by encouraging the mastery of the available technologies and engagement with the language learning process. It is very important to me that we facilitate deep learning through a reflective, story telling approach. I found this presentation very significant:
http://www.vimeo.com/23513397

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Change MOOC

Wishing to experience for myself learning as it is presented through connectivism, I signed up for the change MOOC this year. Several things both alarm and intrigue me. Firstly there will be lots of content, too much in fact for me or indeed the facilitators to read, I will have to control my desire to grasp every detail! Secondly "This is an unusual course. It does not consist of a body of content you are supposed to remember. Rather, the learning in the course results from the activities you undertake, and will be different for each person" OK so I can browse and follow my interests, I can "aggregate, remix, repurpose and feed forward" so far, so real life. I am intrigued because now I can see that I will be making my own way through a virtual conrfield, leaving the trampled corn as evidence of my passing by. I hope there will be clearings where I will meet and share with others to be sure that I haven't lost my way.

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Moving on

The next steps blog was created to help me keep track of the stages of development that grew from my Warwick E-Learning Award and the creation back in 2004/5 of the online client support site. I think it is helpful to look back and summarise these before moving on.
Since those days, my online presence has grown considerably, to the extent that I have made many new "virtual" friends, 400+ followers on twitter, youtube channels, netvibes pages etc., presented at ALT-C, AULC and Edulearn11 and written articles. I completed my M.A. in post-compulsory education thanks to Alison Le Cornu, achieved a Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence (2009) and a fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning. I am proud of my achievements and I know my father (who died suddenly of cancer early in this journey) would have been so too.
Now I need to plan the next steps for my career and build on the progress I have made. The implementation of moodle 2 for the Language Centre will be a watershed and should be completed before the summer ends. With technical support handed over to others, I should be able to focus on my next steps and ensure that this journey has a suitable destination for me personally.